Can We Make a Building From Waste: Reinventing Materials

Abstract

One of the biggest challenges facing today’s architecture is the waste that comes from building materials. It is estimated that the construction process currently results in as much as 40% of wasted materials. This research explores building materials in ways in which they are successful as well as their limitations. The proposed questions are in terms of a material's carbon footprint and how waste comes about when buildings are first constructed and when left to nature’s disposal. This study will be a compilation of research and active practices starting with everyday building products with an emphasis on concrete. The environmental impact of these materials as well as initiatives in place that prompt the need to reconsider what we are using to build will then be discussed. The leading products used in today’s typical construction practices, innovative solutions towards greener practices, and cutting-edge products currently in their development or early application phase will be compared. Through analysis, a discovery will be made on whether or not green technology trump's everyday materials or if their application poses more wasteful techniques than the former. As a conclusion, ways in which we can develop or deploy these materials to a point of minimal if not zero waste will be analyzed, or if more innovative materials can be created through the applications of waste. If current processes and standards of building construction are not sustainable in their entirety, is there an alternative solution that can be further developed from a more experimental approach?